The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1887-05-14
FROM OTHER LANDS.

THE number of subjects to the Britiss
Crown who do not speak. English is estl
mated at two hundred and twenty-five
thousand.
SOUTHERN Russia is noted for the wretch
edness and ignorance of its peasant farm
ers The women are frequently compelled
to serve in the capacity of railway signal
posts, and perform various other Offices
belonging to men.
SPARRows are turned to some account in
Germany. The young ones are secured in
their nests in troughs under the caves by
wire screens, through which the parent
birds feed them until they become large
and plump enough for food.
IT is related of the crows of Yezo, Japan,
that they are noisy, numerous and intelli.
gently impudent. A case in point is given
ia which three large ones gained the mas
terry Of a dog, and took from him bone
that he intended for breakfast.
GERMANY is becoming overcrowded with
physicians. The country now contains
over thirteen thousand doctors. It is said
THAT four thousand medical students would
fill the vacancies in the profession while
there are above eight thousand in the
schools.
SWEDEN possesses in the Gotha Canal
one of the most remarkable achievements
of enjineering skill in the world. Steam
vessels are carried hundreds of miles by
it over hills and valleys, from sea to sea.
In the passage, large, freighted steamers
are raised by locks, $50 feet above sea
+ level.
THE "grape cure' is quite commonly
practiced in France and Germany in the
autumn, and is regarded as cure for
| many diseases due to high feeding. The
patient is given a pound of grapes to eat
the first day. This amount is added to
until the person can eat five or six pounds
day 1t cures obesity and many other
complaints. and starts the person OF on a
new lease Of life. Fruit is necessary in
dietetic medicine.
The latest Partisan fad IS q mourning
dinner at which twelve y Dung ladies vailed
and dressed in black offciate The dining
room, furniture and pictures are all got
ten up in sepulchral fashion and wine is
served in skulls. The repast is discussed
to the accompaniment OF dirge This
ceremony has become ~ fashionable craze.
In their passage of the Suez Canal al
night, steamers are required to provide
themselves with an illuminating power
prescribed by the Suez Canal Company
This necessitates an electric PROTECTOR;
capable of throwing light twelve hue
dred meters ahead. Large steamers ARG
often provides with this apparatus but the
majority, are supplied by companies at
Ports Said and TewfA.
ST. PETERSBURG pays great attenti tn
the preservation of fish for food. There
are numerous ponds fed by the Neva, in
which are preserved alive until required
for use, choice species of fish, each having
separate compartment. From reser-
yoirs, it is said. the municipality derives q
revenue Of thirty thousand rubles The
value Of live trout pike, salmon and other
fish obtained from Lake Ladoga for the
city reservoirs is estimated at a n1ili1on
rubles.
II is claimed that the oldest known tree
is the sacred fg-tree OF Anaraiapoura, in
Ceylon. Tradition asserts that it was
planted by King Devinipiatissa in the year
2SS g. c., and its history from that date is
preserved by mass of documentary and
traditional evidence. It was described by
the Chinese traveller Fa HAN in the yes1
4l4, and by the earliest Europeans who
have seen it in similar terms. 1t still!
four;shes, and is an object Of veneration
to the Buddhists of the island.
THE inhabitants Of the Andaman Islands
are the smallest race Of people in the
| world. The average height of full grown
Andaman is four feet FIVE inches, and few
weigh over seyenty-six pounds. They are
marvelously swift of foot, and, as they
smear themselves over with mixture OF
oil and rcd ocher, present very strange
appearance. Few travellers care to en-
counter any of these bellicose little people,
for their skill in throwing the spear and in
using the bow is only equa1ed by their
readiness to attack strangers.